Fantasy Earnings Trader results — final

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The top players in the fourth and final week of the Fantasy Earnings Trader found value in the misfortunes of ValueClick, the Internet advertising company that saw shares plunge as much as 28% Thursday.

ValueClick
VCLK
gave up all of its gains for the year after missing its revenue forecast for the first quarter. Earnings jumped 28% for the period, topping previous estimates, but ValueClick forecast second-quarter revenue to come in the range of $155 million and $160 million, below the $168 million expected by analysts. See: ValueClick plunges on results, forecast

While 165 players took positions in ValueClick, the winner of Week 4, going by the name Jad73994 roundly beat competitors by weighting 80% of his portfolio short against the deflated stock. Shares of ValueClick finished 22% lower over the five-day period ended Friday.

Callaway: All bets are off in May

(1:05)

Wall Street is consumed by the phenomenon of "sell in May and go away" because it's worked so well the past two years. But this year is an election year in the U.S., and that means all bets are off since stocks typically rise in the six to seven months preceding a U.S. election. MarketWatch's Editor In Chief David Callaway has more.

Jad73994 finished the week with gains of $29,882.17 for an overall return of 18.68%. Contestants were given $160,000 in virtual bucks to invest in a minimum of three stocks from a pool of 30 potential candidates.

And the Grand Prize goes to player Bobdobo, who amassed a net worth of $557,928.03 over four weeks for a gain of $37,928.03, or an overall return of 7.29%. Players were required to trade in all four weeks of the competition in order to qualify for the Grand Prize, a $750 Apple gift card.

Bobdobo did not come in first in any of the prior weeks but strong consistent performance and a powerful ninth place finish in the third round helped push him over the top. Notable gainers over the four weeks included IGate
IGTE
long, Netflix
NFLX, -0.81%
short, and Level 3 Communications
LVLT, +0.16%
long.

Gunderson staged an impressive turnaround, being down as much as $5,220.69, or a loss of 3.26%, on Wednesday to finish the week 5.03% higher for an overall gain of $8,053.74.

Over four weeks of play, MarketWatch Editor in Chief David Callaway proved the overall favorite among the featured players. Gains in the third and fourth weeks made up for losses in the first and a break-even standing in the second.

Callaway amassed a net worth of $525,292.42 over four weeks for a gain of $5,292.42 and an overall return of 1.02%. Notable gainers included short positions in Netflix and Barrick Gold
ABX, -1.16%

Fantasy Earnings Trader will return next U.S. earnings season. Until then, please visit Virtual Stock Exchange Games for more competitions — or create your own.

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